At a ceremony in Poland, the new train that was manufactured for Ghanaian railway transit was given to the Ghanaian government. This marks a significant turning point for Ghana’s transportation industry as the first set of 12 cutting-edge trains from Poland arrive. On Friday, February 2, 2024, in Poland, the transfer ceremony was held.
The Tema-Mpakadan standard-gauge railway line will make use of it. Passengers can choose to transfer from a standard-gauge line to a narrow-gauge line, which will take them to the center of Accra, after the train travels from Mpakadan via Kpong, Juapong, and Doryumu to Tema port.
The 97-kilometres standard-gauge Tema-Mpakadan railway line was built to assist the flow of people and products along Ghana’s Eastern Corridor. It completes and is a component of the multimodal transportation network connecting the Tema port to the southern and northern inland ports of Ghana. That railway line is nearly ninety-eight per cent developed, and it will be finished in 2024.
The line is a component of a 1000 km long interconnectivity project between Ghana and Burkina Faso that would link Ouagadougou with the Port in Tema. By mid-March 2024, the first train—which is intended to run smoothly on both long- and regional-distance lines—should arrive in Ghana.
This is the first standard gauge that the Ghanaian government has ever purchased for use in domestic operations. It is anticipated that the train will depart Poland in mid-February 2024, travelling for roughly four weeks before arriving in Ghana in mid-March.
After that, it will undergo system testing, plug all the holes, conduct several trial runs, and be prepared for the President to commission it sometime in June 2024.
“Ensure consistent and persistent maintenance so that the train can last longer,” he stated, summarizing the crucial element. These trains are designed to last for at least 30 years.
For upcoming business ventures, Ghana is seeking a long-term partnership with PESA since we think PESA has what it takes to sustain the Ghana Railway network. He clarified that to guarantee that “this train will last longer for the people of Ghana,” Ghana has signed a five-year maintenance deal with PESA and hopes to extend it to ten years.
Ghana Railways and the Polish manufacturer have a thorough framework contract in place for the purchase of these contemporary trains, with the ordering party having the option to add an extra 10 vehicles at a later time.
These diesel multiple units’ technical specs are quite similar to those of the well-known RegioFox cars that Bydgoszcz makes for Czech Railways.
For the purchase of these modern trains, Ghana Railways and the Polish manufacturer have a comprehensive framework contract in place, with the ordering party having the option to add 10 vehicles at a later date.
The mechanical specifications of these diesel multiple units are remarkably close to those of Bydgoszcz’s well-known RegioFox carriages, which are built for Czech Railways.
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